While the US Postal Service does permit shipment of certain hazardous materials in a limited way, it is best not to ship ANY chemical samples through the postal system. USPS Publication 52, available through your local Postmaster, contains information about what‘s acceptable and what’s not. One compelling reason for keeping chemicals out of the postal system is that it may have the potential for great harm to certain individuals that handle mail. There have been cases in which women who were expecting childbirth were exposed to spilled chemicals that resulted in harm to the unborn children. This is the sort of risk that you might be taking, and it simply isn‘t worth it. There are plenty of alternative ways to ship. Further, a lot of mail is transported by air; if you’re shipping a liquid material, it‘s possible that the package will end up in an airplane, and the inner packaging may not be capable of withstanding the pressure differentials encountered during flight. This will result in leakage probably onto other articles in the same mailbag.
HazMat Industry News